Work-retirement transitions and mental health: A longitudinal analysis of the role of social protection generosity in 11 countries

AIMS: This study aimed to analyse the effect of work-retirement transitions on post-retirement mental health in individuals with different working conditions in late working life. The focus was on transitions that involve the use of social protection schemes to bridge the gap between the exit from work and retirement, and the extent to which the generosity of such schemes is related to mental health after retirement. METHODS: Individual-level panel data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe for 11 European countries were analysed using structural equation models. A total of 1642 individuals who worked in 2004 or 2007 and who retired in 2013 or 2015 were included in the analyses. The outcome measure was mental health as measured by the EURO-D scale. RESULTS: Respondents with a ‘high strain’ and ‘passive’ work situation have a significantly higher likelihood of using social protection schemes, such as early retirement, sickness, disability and invalidity schemes before retirement. The generosity of such schemes has a significant positive relation to post-retirement mental health. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the generosity of early exit pathways is important for post-retirement mental health, especially for individuals with adverse working conditions at the end of their working lives.